


Between dream and reality

by VampCupcake



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, F/F, Falling In Love, Reality, Weirdness, dream - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-20
Updated: 2016-02-13
Packaged: 2018-05-15 05:14:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5772604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VampCupcake/pseuds/VampCupcake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A fantasy story that may remind you of Alice in Wonderland.<br/>Laura and her dad are lost on a mysterious island after a bad accident. Here Laura meets a beautiful stranger whose charisma will attract her more and more.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I know it's hard to believe, but I took my inspiration for this fan fiction from a dream I had three years ago (right now I'm really glad I took notes of it at the time).

It was a beautiful day of March. The sun was shining bright in the blue sky and the birdies were singing content. At the same time, a tiny girl with honey hair was still sleeping in the messiness of her bed, not minding about anything.

“Laura! Come on, wake up you lazy girl!” her dad, Chris, shouted from behind her room’s door.

“Dad, it’s just 7:30! Let me sleep!”

“No way! We are going fishing right now, it’s such a beautiful sunny morning and I won’t allow you to waste it in bed!”

“Mmhh” was the only thing Laura was able to say in response under the sheets.

“I want you to be ready in ten minutes, we are going to the lake”

“Urgh!” Laura buried her head under her yellow pillow and sighed. She hated waking up early in the morning, especially to go fishing, and considering it was reading week, she hated it even more. But again, fishing was the only hobby her dad had, so she decided to make him this favor. 

In the end living in a cabin in the woods wasn’t exactly enjoyable, the only things her dad did was chopping wood for the winter and going fishing when the weather was starting becoming warmer. She knew there wasn’t much to do there and most of the time he must have felt bored and lonely. Especially after she started going to university that year. 

She was glad she lived in Silas University’s dorm room. Going to High School wasn’t exactly simple from what she remembered, she had to take two busses because she lived so far away from the city and it took her one hour straight to get to school. Yet, she missed her dad so much when she was at university so she was happy to spend a little time with him, even if that would have meant go fishing. Well, after all, the good thing was that there would have been fresh fish that day at lunch, so not too bad.

Laura got up and still sleepy and stoned, took a quick shower and brushed her teeth, before going downstairs to have a little breakfast. She ate a couple of cookies and drank a glass of milk. 

“All right, let’s go!” Chris exclaimed with excitement.

They took their fishing poles and all the necessary things and then they went out and got on Papa Hollis’ motorbike with all the fishing stuff. They put on their helmets and went away. It took half an hour to get to the lake and the fact that Laura had to hold all the fishing equipment wasn’t really comforting.

“Hey, how are you doing back there?” Chris yelled while they were moving.

“Well, I’d be much more comfortable if I hadn’t to hold the fishing poles and pretty much everything else we are bringing”  
See? Another reason why she didn’t like go fishing, but again, she did it for her dad.

“What? I didn’t hear you dear”

“I’m fine, dad” she said with not much excitement.

“Did you fasten your helmet? You always forget it” 

“You don’t have to always remind me, I’m not a little girl anymore!” 

Yes, Laura’s dad was just a bit overprotective and yes, that was going to be a long morning.

After a long ride across the wood they were almost there, Laura could already see the little lake. Now they only had to go through the declivity that separated them from the shore’s lake. Laura was always a bit scared every time they had to pass through this point because the declivity was really steep, but she also knew her dad was a good biker and that she tended to worry excessively about things sometimes, so she took a deep breath and tried to relax.

 

“Hold on tight Laura” her father suggested.

“Ok” she answered, but the truth was that she could barely hold on with all the fishing equipment in her hands. 

Unfortunately they took a hole on the path, but it wasn’t too bad so they went on.

“Are you ok?” Laura’s dad asked her daughter .

“Yes” she answered.

The declivity was almost over by now, just a little distance separated them from the shore. Chris had only turned his head for a fraction of second towards his daughter to make sure she was ok, but when he went back to look at the street it was already too late. 

“Oh my God, what the hell is that?!” Laura screamed in panic.

A giant black cat with big yellow eyes jumped out of nowhere just in front of them on the shore before the lake. It roared threateningly showing its sharp fangs. Chris tried to swerve hard panicking, but at the same time he braked abruptly. They were still on the declivity and the tension made the motorbike doing a wheelie on the front. The brake was so abrupt and the swerve so strong and sudden that Laura and her dad fell from  
the motorbike, they flew in the air, going directly into the lake which was only at a little distance from them. 

Fortunately the big feline didn’t hurt them, but the splash in the water was big. They felt their bodies sinking into the lake. Barely conscious of what was happening in that moment, they went down and down, dragged underwater by an unnatural weight. Laura thought she was going to die, but the thought of it didn’t scare her, she wasn’t worried at all, she just felt an inexplicable peaceful feeling and as she closed her eyes, she tried to fully embrace it.

But right then she felt a grip around one of her arms, it was her dad. She immediately opened her eyes. There was a submarine near them, so, still holding their breath, they tried to swim as fast as possible towards it in order to be noticed. As they saw the hatchback opening they went in, surprised by the fact that the water didn’t go into the submarine with them. Laura thought it should have been some sort of modern mechanism they didn’t know.

When they finally made it into the submarine, they inhaled hard and coughed, spitting some water. 

“We are safe now, it’s gonna be ok” Laura’s father hugged her as she let out a few tears.

“Mmh, let me see the two survivors” they suddenly heard a voice from the control room.

An old man approached them slowly, he looked like a seaman, perhaps a pirate. He had a red bandana on his head, mustache and beard both white and golden earrings. He also had a large anchor tattoo on his right arm and a wooden leg, maybe the consequence of a bad accident living the sea life. They also noticed a cute little monkey by his side examining them with curious eyes.

“Well, I guess you didn’t go to take a swim for fun, didn’t you?” the man chuckled and offered them a large towel so they could wipe themselves.

“My daughter and I were supposed to go fishing, but we had a terrible accident” Chris said.

“Oh yes, sea accident are always the worst, believe me I know it” the seaman pointed out to his wooden leg.

The old man’s little monkey went near Laura and climbed up her body until her head, once there it started ruffling the girl’s hair. 

“Jenna! Behave, They're our guests” the seaman ordered and so the little monkey obeyed, getting off Laura’s head and making a guilty face. 

“How is it possible that when we entered your submarine the water didn’t go in with us?” the girl asked curious and still a bit stoned.

“It’s protected by magic” the old man answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, while Laura and Chris thought he should have  
suffered from some sort of mental issue “once I lost my left leg in that tragic ship accident that took almost all my crew, I went in contact with a powerful wizard who made me this wonderful favor, so that I don’t have to worry every time I sail, of course he didn’t do it for free but” he made a quick pause “Oh Lord I’m such an ill-mannered old drunkard, I didn’t even introduce myself! I beg your pardon” then he cleared his throat and continued “Captain Patrick J. O’Sullivan, at your service” he bowed a little trying to look elegant “Oh and this is Jenna” he indicated the little monkey.

“We are Christopher and Laura” Laura’s father answered.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you” Captain O’Sullivan told them.

“So, uhm, where are we directed exactly?” Laura asked curious but also a bit worried (and mostly still thinking the Captain might have been a crazy weirdo).

“Oh, my journey is gonna be very long my dear, but If you like I could stop at the next island so you two can ask for help there” he went on “Don’t worry they’re all inhabited, I’ve been to each and every one of these islands in this zone during my long trips”

“There is no way to go back?” Chris said.

“I fear it’s not possible at the moment, we should go in the opposite direction of the currents we are following right now and since the flows are really strong it would be impossible, I’m sorry… but again, the next island shouldn’t be really distant from us, I can see it on the map”.

“It looks like we don’t have any choice” Laura said frustrated.

“Don’t worry Laura, once there we’ll take a boat and we’ll be able to go back” her father tried to comfort her.

“Mmh, that is weird” the old Captain was checking with his submarine’s instruments what was on the water surface.

“What’s happening Captain?” the tiny girl demanded.

“The next island is just in front of us, but it isn’t on the map… well, maybe a little mistake made by some distracted printer” he chuckled  
“Anyway, emersion!” Captain O’Sullivan pressed a button in the control room and in just a few minutes the submarine emerged near the unknown little island’s shore. The old man then opened the hatchback pressing another button.

“Thank you so much Captain and have a nice trip” Chris got out of the submarine and helped Laura.

“Goodbye Captain and Goodbye Jenna!” Laura yelled.

“Goodbye guys and good luck!” The Captain yelled back.

After the old man said goodbye to Laura and her dad the submarine immersed again into the water and disappeared. 

Father and daughter both turned to the little beach made of sand and noticed some palms and wild plants with colorful flowers.

“It looks like a tropical island” Chris pointed out.

“Urgh! That goddamn Captain! I knew it, we will die here!” Laura exclaimed out of anger.

“Come on Laura, I’m sure this island isn’t completely uninhabited, after all we’re just on the shore”

“God, why? Why me?!” the girl started shouting louder, not paying attention to what her father was saying.

“I suggest we start moving towards the central part of the island, maybe we’ll find someone, or at least something…”

“We are doomed! We are so doomed!” now the poor girl looked pretty desperate.


	2. Chapter 2

“Laura please, try to keep calm” Chris told her daughter, who was quite jumpy by now.

“Keep calm? A huge panther tried to eat us, we almost drowned in the lake and, only God knows how, we ended up being stuck on a tropical island in the middle of nowhere!” Laura said in one breath “You know, I was supposed to be on reading week, studying stuff for my midterm, hopefully chill out a bit rewatching Harry Potter while drinking a cup of hot cocoa and just have a little anxiety for my exams, not for the fact I’m probably gonna die.” She added, lowering her tone and looking disconsolate.

“I know dear, I know but number 1: we are not gonna die and number 2: we will find our way back, you’ll see, but the only way to make it is to try to see if there’s really something in here” Chris put his hands on Laura’s shoulders “Ok?”

“Ok” Laura barely had the time to answer as the felt a sudden little headache annoying her.

“Hey, what’s up?” Chris asked worried.

“Nothing, just a little headache” she massaged her temples “Let’s go now”.

Laura and her father went near one of the big exotic plants and when Chris moved one of the huge leaves to facilitate their way forward, they saw the unexpected. A short path made of gravel led to a huge square in medieval style full of stores and houses. They couldn’t believe their eyes. It looked like a European city instead of a tropical island and it was much bigger than it looked on the outside. 

“How is that even possible?” Chris’ astonishment was as big as her daughter’s.

“I have no idea, the only thing I know is that I’m starving and there happen to be a bakery near us” and actually the bakery was the first store after that short gravel path “Maybe also drinking something hot will help my headache”

“You think we should go?” Chris asked a bit hesitant.

“Well, it looks like a normal city if it wasn’t for the context and then, after all, can really anything worst happen to us at this point?”

“Yeah, you’re right, let’s go”.

They passed through the gravel path and arrived in the square, just in front of the bakery. In the meanwhile they also noticed other stores, including a weird looking clothes shop and a bar. There was also a little park. The other buildings were merely houses from what they could tell, except for a stately gothic castle that stood on a big hill on the background.

“Actually, it looks just like a regular bakery” Chris stated.

“All right so, I think we should come in” Laura told her father and then opened the entrance door.  
They entered the bakery, which had pink walls, and saw three showcases full of sweets of all kinds and forms just in front of the them. Cakes, cookies, brownies, creampuffs and cupcakes, they all looked delicious.

“Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many sweets all together in my life!” Laura was stunned as she felt her salivation going crazy.

“Finally! There it is!” a young lady with curly red hair suddenly stood up from behind the counter holding a blender in her hands showing big satisfaction.

“Perry?!” Laura couldn’t believe it, it was her friend from university Lola Perry.

“Hey Laura, nice to see you! You also brought your dad, how sweet!” Perry smiled towards Laura and her father.

“Uhm, y-yes I” Laura didn’t know what to say, how was it possible that Perry was also there?

“It’s such a pleasure to meet you Mr. Hollis!” Perry cut Laura off and shook Chris’ hand with enthusiasm. 

“The pleasure is mine” he answered a bit awkward.

“So, you’re here too, uh?” Laura said to Perry feeling just as awkward as her dad, if not more.

“Of course, where else should I be?” Perry chuckled.

“And you work here?” Laura demanded.

“Yes, actually I own this place and I make all the fantastic sweets you see”

“You do it all by yourself?” Chris said amazed.

 

“Of course I do, I’m so passionate about this job, you have no idea!” Perry smiled.

Laura felt again that annoying headache, it was growing bigger and bigger, as if that whole situation wasn’t enough to handle.

“Can I offer you something?” Perry proposed kindly “you both look so tired”

“We had an accident and then we went through a long journey ending up here” Chris explained her.

“Oh, I see, you must be exhausted” Perry said back showing a little concern towards her friend and her father.

“So, what do you guys would like? I have this amazing homemade ice cream here” she indicated another showcase “the ice cream machine I ordered last week arrived yesterday and I had so much fun making delicious ice cream all day long”

“Maybe I’d prefer something hot, you know I’ve got this bad headache” Laura stated.

“Ok, what about a hot tea then?” Perry invited her.

“A hot tea would be good thanks, oh and also a cupcake please”

“Sure, Mr. Hollis?”

“A coffee will be ok”

“All right” Perry prepared the water for the tea and the coffee and gave Laura her cupcake to eat in the meanwhile.

“Perry?” Laura called her friend.

“Yes Laura?” she turned to her.

“Does this place have an actual name or some sort of recognition? Because we found it by chance, it wasn’t even on the map”

“Oh well, I’m not supposed to tell you but this island is under the influence of magic, the owners wanted to protect it from pirates I guess, because of its wealth”

“Wait, the owners?” Laura asked surprised.

“Yes, a rich aristocratic family, the Karnsteins, took possession of this and other islands in this zone years ago and now some of them are ruled my their two daughters”

“So, the gothic castle on the hill is? 

“The royal residence, exactly” Perry interrupted her.

“Wow” Laura was speechless. She couldn’t decide whether to believe her words or not. Magic again, maybe that old Captain wasn’t so crazy after all. If Perry, the girl that always liked “normal”, talked about magic stuff then it had to be a real thing. The rich family story was interesting though, she couldn’t help but think how their queen must have looked like, always if the whole story was real.

“Oh, your tea and the coffee for your dad are ready” Perry took the two drinks and gave them to Laura and Chris.

“Thanks for everything Perry, you’re really kind offering us all of this” said Laura eating the last bit of her cupcake and then sipping her tea.

“It’s always a pleasure”

When Laura and her dad finished drinking their drinks in Perry’s bakery they thanked her again and went out.

“Hey Laura!” 

As soon as they went out Laura heard a familiar voice calling her name in the distance, but she couldn’t understand from where it came from.  
“I’m here!” 

Laura finally saw Kirsch sitting on a chair out of a bar drinking a beer, so she went near him with her father.

“Hi Kirsch” Laura greeted him, surprised to also see him there. She couldn’t really understand what was going on.

“Do you wanna a beer?” he offered.

“No, thanks I just had a cup of tea”

“Ok, Mr. Hollis? Would you like something to drink?” Kirsch asked Chris.

“I’m fine, thank you”

“So, you’re here too?” the girl asked the Zeta guy.

“Where else am I supposed to be?” he said as if it was obvious “Anyway, if you also wanna say hi to D – bear she’s right there, in the little park near the clothes shop” he indicated the park.

“Yeah sure, thanks Kirsch!” Laura thanked him and said goodbye.

Father and daughter quickly walked through the big square, not saying a word, just thinking about the weirdness of that place. Laura found this whole situation inexplicable: how was it possible that she was meeting all her friends from university in an unknown city on an island ruled by who knows what kind of freak? She was so confused her head felt like it was about to explode, and that terrible headache didn’t make it easier.

Still into the swirl of her thoughts, Laura finally got to the park with her dad. Like Kirsch said previously, Danny was right there, shooting a bow against the stalk of an apple on a big tree that was quite distant from here. The arrow hit the fruit’s stalk perfectly, as it fell to the ground immediately. The Summer girl went near the tree to take the apple and then came back. Laura and Chris had seen the whole scene, amazed by Danny’s talent. Laura didn’t know she was that good and she stood up next to her father gaping like a dork for a few seconds, until Chris told her:

“I’ll go to sit on that bench while you greet your friend, I really feel tired” he indicated a bench near one of the many trees in the little park.

Laura nodded and then approached Danny.

“That was awesome!” Laura told Danny, who hadn’t seen her yet.

“Oh Laura, you’re here!” The redhead greeted her “Do you want some?” she offered Laura the apple she just took.

“No, thanks”

Danny took a bite of the apple and said “It’s good to see you”

“Yes, it’s nice to see you too, I just didn’t expect you to be here”

“I always come to this park, what do you mean?” the tall girl answered back a bit puzzled.

“Yeah, uhm..” at this point Laura understood that maybe she had to make less questions because there clearly wasn’t a logical reason to all of that.

When Danny finished eating her apple she gave the core to a beautiful white horse that was nearby. Laura was so into her thoughts that she didn’t even notice it.

“Wow it’s beautiful! Is it yours?” she demanded.

“Yes, her name is Penelope”

Laura approached the horse and gently stroked her muzzle.

“Sorry Laura, but now I really have to go” Danny got on Penelope “I should get ready for the party tonight, I guess I’ll see you there”

“Yes, sure”

“Bye!”

“Bye Danny!”

The Summer went away galloping on her horse, leaving a really confused Laura. What was the party Danny was talking about?


	3. Chapter 3

“So Danny told you there is gonna be a party tonight?” Chris asked Laura a bit surprised.

“Yeah, it seems like an important thing”

Laura and her dad had came out of that little garden where they met Danny, who told her about a mysterious party. They were now walking on a path that led them again into the principal big square.

“Maybe if we weren’t in such a situation at the moment it would be fun to go to that party” Laura continued. After all their problems a party would have been a nice way to relax, if they weren’t in the weirdest city on the face of earth. In the end maybe it wasn’t really a good idea.

“Well, if I was just a bit younger” Chris said with melancholy eyes.

“Hey dad, look there” Laura’s attention was caught by an unusual looking clothes shop. 

A couple of mannequins with goth punk rock clothes were showing from the bigger shop window. One of them was wearing a flannel with under it a black t-shirt with a skull and a pair of black jeans, the other one was wearing a leather jacket and a black t-shirt with moon phases on it and leather pants. Both were wearing combat boots and colorful weird masks with feathers and glitters. The masks had exaggerated facial expression, they looked quite creepy. 

There were also other masks hanging on the black glittered wall. From the smaller shop window they could see another mannequin with a black veiled dress on and a black and white masks similar to the other ones. There were also some black leather belts with studs on them, bracelets with studs, some bandanas and weird looking necklaces with big skull pendants.

“It looks like leather is the main clothing item” Chris stated ironically.

“Or more like a bunch of goths and riders had a meeting in there” Laura made a disgusted face “and those masks… creepy” she added “I think we should go away from here” she turned to her dad, who nodded. 

They decided that they needed to find a place to spend the night since it was starting getting darker and the situation was still a bit vague.   
But before they could move farther from the weird shop clothes Laura heard someone calling her.

“Laura come in!”

Laura turned again in the direction of the clothes shop and as soon as she spotted a red tuft of hair, a bowtie and suspenders through the door’s glass, she knew who that was.

“Lafontaine!” she exclaimed surprised “let’s go in dad, it’s another of my friends from university”

They entered and found themselves completely surrounded by black clothes. Only black clothes and leather, with the exception of flannels.

“Hey how are you doing?” Laf asked Laura.

“Uhm, fine… I think” she went on “You went shopping?”

“Oh no, I’m the owner of this shop”

“I didn’t know you were into this kind of clothes”

“Actually that’s just a cover for a top secret project I’m working on lately”

Lafontaine pushed a button on the cash register and a wall magically turned, showing a human body covered by a white sheet on a table surrounded by what looked like chemical potions and other science stuff were put on another smaller table. On one side there was a big machine that was boiling some sort of fluorescent liquid. Laura and her father looked at each other in amazement.

“Yeah well, that’s like my personal little science laboratory” Laf said “I didn’t have enough space at home and it wouldn’t have been completely safe anyway so…” they tried to justify themselves “You’re the first ones I’m showing all this, I’m a little excited” they smiled and uncovered the face of the body on the table.

“Omg it’s Will!” Laura exclaimed a little horrified “What the heck are you doing with Will’s corpse?!”

“I was simply experimenting at first you know, but then I had an idea: wouldn’t it be cool to put J.P. into Will’s body?”

“Like some sort of Frankenstein?” Chris said.

“Exactly Mr. Hollis” they continued “I mean, he’s dead and J.P. has been trapped into the library without a body for over a century so I thought it would have been a nice thing to do for him”.

“Well, if we try to see it from this perspective” Laura made an awkward face “Anyway, is it scientifically possible to do that?”

“Yes, absolutely. I just made a few attempts so far, but I’m one hundred percent sure it’s gonna work eventually” they made a quick pause “But hey, you don’t know anything about this and you didn’t see anything, ok?”

“Ok” Laura and Chris said in unison.

Lafontaine pushed another button on the smaller table and the wall turned again to the shop clothes.

“Can I ask you a question? It’s not about your experiment or whatever you wanna call that” Laura stated.

“Yes sure” Laf answered.

“I met Danny before at the little park near here, she went away in a hurry because she said she had to go to a party”

“Oh yes, the party” they cut Laura off “I will tell you the secret of this place: it looks perfectly normal during the day, but at night there is always some crazy party with loud music and people go around with weird costumes on. Actually, I sell some of these weird costumes” Lafontaine pointed to some bat costumes and strange black dresses with dark glittered fairy wings “It looks like Halloween every night, it’s so much fun”

“How come do you have this weird celebration thing every night?” Laura asked, feeling again her headache stronger than before “Ouch!”

“Just a tradition brought by the royal family of Karnstein, are you ok?”

“Yes, it’s just this damn headache” she massaged her head a little.

All of a sudden they started hearing some music from the square. It started quite low, and then it got louder and louder. It was some kind of   
music neither Laura and Chris had ever heard before. It was like a mix of electronic music and rock, weird but pleasant.

“It’s starting!” Laf exclaimed with excitement “do you wanna borrow two of my costumes?”

“No thanks” Laura and her dad said in unison.

“Damn, I’ve gotta change!” Lafontaine went in a rush in the dressing room and after just less then a minute they came out with a bat costume on.

“Come on, it’s gonna be fun!” they urged Laura and Chris, who accepted even if with some doubts.

As soon as they came out of the shop they saw the square completely full of people, like at a rock concert. There were colorful lights everywhere and the music was so loud they could feel it vibrating in their chests. Where do it even come from? When they arrived Laura didn’t notice any speaker in the square, another weird thing about that place.

They went into the middle of the square and started dancing, in the end, as Lafontaine said, it was fun, and the least they could do in an unknown weird city was having a little fun to release tension.

“Hey guys!” Danny joined Laura, Chris and Lafontaine and offered Laura a drink she was holding in her hands . She was wearing one of these black dresses with fairy wings that Laf had in their shop. 

Laura said also hi and thanked her, but the music was so loud she could barely hear anything else. That drink was good though, it tasted like peach vodka. Perry soon approached them too wearing just her regular clothes, after all Perry was always Perry.

Laura was really having the time of her life at the party dancing with her friends, but at some point she turned and she didn’t see her dad near her anymore. She worried and started panicking. Her friends didn’t seem to have notice anything as they were so into the music. So she detached herself a little and started calling him, but the music was so loud she couldn’t even hear herself. She crossed the whole crowded square to find him, but he wasn’t there. He seemed to have disappeared. 

“Oh my God!” Laura exclaimed worried, putting her hands in her hair. “I just lost my dad in the crowd!” she thought, then she remembered she still had her phone so she could call him, but first she needed to find a quieter place in order to do that because the music was really too loud.

Afterwards she spotted something in a little street near the square. It looked like a black cat, perhaps a bit bigger than the normal, sitting next to a store. Laura wasn’t really sure whether it was a cat or not because it was in a dark corner, so she couldn’t see it very well. She only saw distinctly its big yellow eyes in the distance, like the panther that almost attacked her. The feline then went away, or that was just what Laura thought. 

Next, she saw that the lights in that store were on so she came closer. The store was actually a little art gallery. She didn’t even notice it before, during the day. The door was open and the access was free so she came in to calm herself down a bit and call her dad. She entered in a rush and took her phone from her pocket.

“Dammit it’s broken!” she yelled. “It must have happened when we fell in the lake” she thought. Anyway she didn’t have to waste her time, she had to find her dad so she decided to go out again, but something caught her attention. 

It was a painting, there were many others that she didn't even bother to see, but this one had something special. Laura found this painting in particular more interesting, almost magnetic. It portrayed a young lady with dark hair in a black veiled dress. The contrast between her pale skin and her red lips was incredibly wonderful. Laura thought she was so beautiful, she was charmed by the intensity of her eyes. She saw a signature on the right down corner, it simply said: Carmilla.

“Do you like my art, cutie?” Laura suddenly heard a female voice behind her so she turned. In astonishment, she recognized the same lady of the portrait. It was really her, Laura had no doubts, she was even more fascinating in person. 

“I, uh…I” Laura was so charmed by the beautiful stranger that she stood looking at her, her mouth agape, just able to stutter a couple of words, feeling her cheeks blushing.

The girl came closer, she chuckled lightly, looking at Laura right in the eyes. It was like her eyes were burning with desire, and Laura couldn’t help but feeling hypnotized by them, as she thought the mysterious lady really looked stunning in her leather jacket and leather pants.

As soon as Laura had again some clearness of thought, she was able to say:

“W-Who are you?”

“I’m Carmilla, sweetheart.” she answered, her voice like a purr.

“Oh, so you’re”

Carmilla abruptly cut her off :

“Yes, I’m at the same time the author and the subject of that portrait, not bad I guess”

“W-Wow”

“And you are?” Carmilla gently stroked Laura’s hair.

“I’m Laura” she smiled awkwardly, feeling her heart beating faster in her chest.

“Laura” she repeated her name with a low sensual voice.

“I’ve heard you before complaining about something, what’s wrong cupcake?” Carmilla asked.

“I lost my dad in the crowd, I wanted to call him but my phone got broken and right now and don’t even know where he is and if he’s ok” Laura answered with a sad look on her face.

“Mmh” Carmilla started thinking, then her eyes brightened up again “You know, the party that started in the big square is gonna continue at the castle tonight” she kept on “I will let you use my phone to call your dad, if you come to the party at the castle with me, deal?” Carmilla smirked cunning.

Laura thought about her offer for a moment. Going to a party with a mysterious beautiful girl in order to call her dad and find out if he’s ok. It didn’t sound too bad after all, especially when she actually really needed to know where her dad was so she cleared her throat and answered:

“Alright, deal”

“Excellent” Carmilla said satisfied with still a cheeky smirk on her face.


	4. Chapter 4

Carmilla took her phone from her pocket and gave it to Laura, who immediately made her dad’s phone number. She looked clearly tensed, but Chris answered after the first two rings and that itself gave her a little relief.

“Hello?”

“Dad it’s me, Laura!”

“Oh Laura” 

“Where are you? Are you ok?” she asked still a bit worried.

“Yes, yes, I’m ok. I’m at a inn near Perry’s bakery dear, don’t worry”

Laura sighed, at least he was ok. Carmilla in the meanwhile was looking at Laura almost amused, still with that little smirk of hers.

“It’s just that at some point I didn’t see you anymore at that party and I was scared that something may have happened to you and my phone got broken so I couldn’t even call you”

“Laura breathe, it’s all ok”

Laura swallowed hard and went on, calmer:

“I’m just really glad your phone didn’t got broken like mine”

“Oh yes, this old generation phones are much more resistant, I was lucky. But now tell me, where are you instead?”

“I’m calling you from a little art gallery, a… girl let me borrow her phone to call you” she looked at Carmilla for a second, who was of course still staring at her with what Laura would have called “seduction eyes”.

“Alright, so why don’t you come to the inn I’m staying at now? It’s right behind the bakery, it’s easy to get to”.

“I - I can’t” Laura frowned a bit.

“What?” her dad said surprised.

“It’s just that the party it’s so amusing and I really would like to stay here a little more” lying to her dad made her feel so guilty, but right now it was the only way.

“Laura you have to listen to me! You can't stay out there all alone, it can be dangerous!” Chris started shouting through the phone, not accepting the fact that her daughter was disobeying him.

“I’m sorry” Laura hung up abruptly. She didn’t want to disappoint her dad or make him angry, but this was the only choice she could make at the moment.

“Dammit, he’s gonna hate me for this” she thought as she gave back the phone to Carmilla, eyes down. She wasn’t even sure about what she was doing anymore. Maybe it was dangerous, maybe it could have been some sort of trap, after all Carmilla was still a stranger to her, she knew nothing about her except for the fact that she liked painting. And yet, on the other hand, she felt like she could trust Carmilla like an old friend, she gave her this weird sense of safety, it was an inexplicable feeling. Laura had just a mix of different feelings and thoughts about this lady she   
had never met before that she couldn’t even understand.

Her trail of thoughts was interrupted by Carmilla who, by putting a hand on her shoulder, took Laura back to reality.

“We should go now” Carmilla said in a soft voice, almost assuring the blonde girl.

So the two girls went out of the art gallery together while the party was still going on in all its messiness and noises.

“Follow me, I know a shortcut to the castle” Carmilla whispered softly in Laura’s ear.

Laura only nodded as they took a secondary little street that was just near the art gallery. The street was completely empty and silent because everyone was still at the party, which would have moved from the big square to the royal castle very soon.

Laura was worried and excited at the same time, a weird mix of feelings she had never experienced before, but maybe it was just Carmilla’s influence on her. Indeed, Laura felt more and more charmed by the beautiful young lady.

“You didn’t tell me much about you, sweetie” Carmilla broke the silence between the two of them while they were still walking on the little street.

“Uh, well” Laura giggled, a bit embarrassed “I like junk food” she said with a guilty face “and when I’m not going to university I stay at my dad’s house in the woods” 

“You go to university?” Carmilla asked surprised.

“Yes, I’m studying to become a journalist”

“Interesting” Carmilla gave Laura a little pleased smirk.

“What about you instead? Mysterious lady” Laura tried to be cheeky teasing the other girl.

Carmilla chuckled and said “There are so many things to say about me, the first one would probably be that as much as I love living in a castle, I’d really have to complain about the lack of company, it’s such an unpleasant thing”

“You live in the royal castle?” Laura asked impressed.

Carmilla chuckled again and answered “I own it actually”

“Wait, you are a Karnstein!”

Carmilla only nodded in silence.  
“So you’re literally the queen of this island!” Laura exclaimed in total surprise.

“I consider myself as more of a person who tries to rule this place and put things in order when it’s necessary” she continued “ the word “queen” is too pompous for me”. Carmilla stated as if it was really nothing special.

Laura and Carmilla had now arrived in front of a forest. The complete lack of street lamps made it totally dark and quite scary.

“The castle is just after this forest, let’s go” Carmilla told Laura indicating the creepy looking forest in front of them.

“All right” Laura didn’t like the look of that forest, but she was doing it for Carmilla, so she took a deep breath and went into it with the other girl.

Carmilla walked swiftly even into the darkness of the forest. Laura wondered how she did, but the answer was that probably she just knew the way very well.

“Follow me, Laura” Carmilla said, but Laura was far behind her, as it was literally impossible to see anything.

Then she heard a noise. She shivered, starting to be afraid.

“Ok, just leaves waving in the wind” Laura thought “nothing to be scared of”

But Carmilla was so far away now she couldn’t hear her footsteps anymore. Laura feared she had left her there alone.

“Carmilla!” she shouted, searching for the other girl.

Then she tripped on something, probably just a piece of branch, and fell to the ground.

“Ouch!”

“Laura” she heard Carmilla’s voice again.

“Are you ok?” Carmilla took Laura’s hand to help her getting up.

“Yes” Laura paused to take her breath again. This all atmosphere really gave her a fright. “You are here” she said, her voice shaking a little.

“I would never leave you” Carmilla stroked Laura’s hair gently, trying to reassure her.

The only thing Laura could see in the dark were Carmilla’s eyes. They were glowing like golden stones in the dark, it was weird but fascinating.

“Don’t be afraid, you’re with me” Carmilla gave Laura a little kiss on her cheek “I’ll keep you safe” she cupped Laura’s face and stroked her cheeks   
with both her thumbs, before leaning in to kiss her sweetly on the lips. 

As soon as Laura felt Carmilla’s soft warm lips on hers she forgot about everything around her. The darkness that surrounded her didn’t even scare her anymore. She inhaled hard Carmilla’s vanilla scent as the kiss deepened. She forgot about her fears, she forgot about the entire world whilst her heart was almost exploding into her chest.

When the kiss ended Carmilla took again Laura’s hand into hers and they went on through the dark forest following their path hand in hand. 

Laura wasn’t afraid of anything anymore, that other hand in hers gave her strength and courage and she had now completely convinced herself that she could trust Carmilla.

After just a few more minutes of walking they finally arrived at their destination. In fact, Laura spotted some lights in the distance and when they came closer she saw the big gothic castle in all its magnificence just in front of them, standing on its hill.

“Here we are, cupcake” Carmilla affirmed satisfied.


End file.
